J.Crew, How I Adore Thee

J.Crew, How I Adore Thee

July 1st, 2009 @ 2:45 pm by Mrs. Cloud

I decided what I wanted my bridesmaids to wear approximately three years ago. Yes, you read that correctly, THREE YEARS AGO. Long, long long, before we were engaged. One of my adorable bridesmaids, BM N and I share a wonderful obsession—our mutual admiration of all things J.Crew. About two years ago we fell upon the Cotton Cady Lindsey dress.

[Photo Source: J.Crew.com]

We wanted it, we needed it, and we had nothing to wear it to.

The dress is classic, and beautiful. Everything a bridesmaid’s dress is usually not. So, I decided right then and there that I would not torture my maids in a frilly dress—no tulle for me! They would wear the Lindsey dress in all its beautiful glory. I have 8 girls in my party of all shapes, heights, and sizes. One of my girls is actually a junior bridesmaid, and at 13, it will even be appropriate for her! All I had to do was pray they were still in production if and when I ever got engaged. Lucky for me, Mr. Cloud didn’t wait too long, and as soon as the girls were asked and agreed to be in the wedding, I was on a mission to order the dresses.

And now I would like to offer a few hints for any other brides looking to order the dresses for their girls from the store we all know and love…

Sign up for their email list, they often send out 20% off coupons, which are even usable for their wedding collection.
Order in store if possible, from the red phone! Anything ordered there will have free shipping, and they will either ship them all to one address, or each separate.
The stores often run extra promotions for signing up for the J.Crew card (the largest I have heard of was 30%!). The discount applies also to anything ordered the same day on the red phone.
I had been told in other stores, and heard online, that you can have the dresses delivered to the store, and do a “try-on” before buying. Unfortunately this is not true. You must buy before any delivery, although they will ship them to the store if for whatever reason that is easier for you.
If they don’t fit, you can bring them back to the store and do an “exchange”. They will ship it back for no charge, and also ship you the replacement with no shipping charges!
The measurements listed for dresses on the website are pretty spot on. We were worried about this, so my girls ordered a size up from their regular dress size. We are now taking advantage of the above tip, and swapping them all for smaller sizes.
I don’t know how accurate this is, but according to the helpful sales gal at my store, their wedding collection is made the same way other companies make bridesmaid dresses, meaning they are meant to be altered and have extra fabric at the seems. We haven’t gotten that far with ours yet, but I will keep you updated.

My girls will be wearing this beautiful dress in black, with the sash tied in a bow in the back, as modeled by my gorgeous baby cousin, BM C (not so baby anymore, she’s 13). This is pre-alteration, which she will definitely need since she is tiny, but it still looks super cute!

Did you always have a specific bridesmaid dress in mind, even before you were engaged? What does it look like?

Tags: bridesmaid-dress |

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26 Responses to “J.Crew, How I Adore Thee”

Member

Curlysue (message) 625 posts, Busy bee

I love that dress! I’ll have to keep them in mind when it comes time to find dresses for my girls. One gal is going to be in two weddings this fall and both dresses are strapless and she is so uncomfortable in them because she doesn’t like the look for her.

7/1/09 @ 2:53 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Bruschetta (message) 5,553 posts, Bee Keeper

Yea for black BM dresses!

I found a J.Crew dress (I think it’s technically a BM dress) that I luuuurve for our rehearsal and RD, but it needs some minor alterations.

7/1/09 @ 2:54 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Dew Drop (message) 250 posts, Helper bee

Love the dresses. Your bridesmaids will look great!

Being obsessed with all things J.Crew, I really wanted J.Crew bridesmaid dresses too. Unfortunately, the colors didn’t quite match what I wanted. So, after much looking for and rejecting other dresses, we ended up with Aria dresses (and I have high hopes for them!).

7/1/09 @ 2:57 pm (reply)

Guest

Nikki

that is the dress my girls wore! check out the mrsnsf gallery submissions. all 4 of them have already worn it again!

7/1/09 @ 2:57 pm (reply)

Member

Gerbera (message) 823 posts, Busy bee

I do LOVE JCrew (& Ann Taylor) BM Dresses! I have the luxury of time to wait for them to go on sale. But thus far not in the colors I want yet. =( Hopefully some will come up!

7/1/09 @ 2:58 pm (reply)

Member

honeymyheart (message) 763 posts, Busy bee

what a pretty dress, horray for jcrew

7/1/09 @ 2:59 pm (reply)

Member

jesstagirl (message) 486 posts, Helper bee

I love the J.Crew dresses and check their site often, but sadly we don’t have a J.Crew in my state and I”d hate to buy and then have to pay for shipping out here and back if they don’t work out. Boo! (I love the dress you picked!)

7/1/09 @ 3:00 pm (reply)

Guest

lydia

i got my bm dresses from j.crew also, my girls LOVE them! i got the juliet dress in kelly green (now out of season.) i have 6 bridesmaids, the dresses went on sale and were sold out online, j.crew was excellent in service–calling stores to make sure we got dresses for all the girls. i also wanted dresses the girls would be able to wear again if they wanted to. they have all been really pleased and so have i so far! i can’t wait to see them in their dresses on my wedding day.

7/1/09 @ 3:06 pm (reply)

Member

Ghenet (message) 125 posts, Blushing bee

Thanks for the tips! I also love J. Crew their Fall 2009 collection has the perfect dress and color (spiced wine) for my BMs! I’m already signed up for their email alerts and you’re right, they send emails with coupons all the time.

7/1/09 @ 3:09 pm (reply)

10.

Member

MrsSl82be (message) 1,472 posts, Bumble bee

Sure didn’t but I do love that dress, your girls are going to look fab!

7/1/09 @ 3:10 pm (reply)

11.

Bee

Mrs. Penguin (message) 2,148 posts, Buzzing bee

Super classic! J.Crew was the first place I looked, but at the time I didn’t realize that BM dresses were so expensive. I saw some $300ish dresses (I know there’s a wider price range, but those were the first I saw!) and I was like… Wha??? I don’t even own a $300 dress. And J.Crew’s normal dresses are typically lower priced than that! Of course, checking around all the other BM dress companies, I began to realize that this was kind of a normal price. Bleh. But, all the J.Crew BM dresses are very rewearable. I’d totally wear the black dress you picked a lot! They’d look great with crazy colored jewelry!

7/1/09 @ 3:11 pm (reply)

12.

Member

skibobrown (message) 260 posts, Helper bee

Gorgeous dress! I am also planning on using J Crew dresses for my bridesmaid dresses, since I am obsessed with them. Probably 90+% of the clothes that I own are from J Crew. I’m crossing my fingers that they have a color that works with my color scheme for the spring season when my bridesmaids will likely be buying their dresses.

7/1/09 @ 3:22 pm (reply)

13.

Member

futurejet (message) 107 posts, Blushing bee

J Crew shipped my girls dresses to them yesterday! I think it is the best way to go, especially if your bridesmaids are scattered all over the place like mine our. No need to go to a salon and get measured. So convenient! and beautiful! Love your dress pick!

7/1/09 @ 3:30 pm (reply)

14.

Bee

Miss Cloud (message) 587 posts, Busy bee

@jesstagirl: How in the world do you live without a J. Crew store?? I just don’t know what I would do!

7/1/09 @ 3:38 pm (reply)

15.

Bee

Miss Gloss (message) 1,053 posts, Bumble bee

I’d say 85% of my clothes are from JCrew…LOVE - and my girls are wearing those exact same dresses (except in navy)!

7/1/09 @ 3:48 pm (reply)

16.

Guest

NikkiC

I just got my JCrew dresses today in Sweet Cantaloupe!! My sister is going to wear the Sophia in Tea Rose but the rest of the girls are going to decide between Sophia or Juliet in Sweet Can. I knew I wanted simple…and I adore JCrew!! I also dug that they let me use my 15% off teacher discount!! Yay for teachers!!

7/1/09 @ 3:54 pm (reply)

17.

Bee

Miss Labrador (message) 1,324 posts, Bumble bee

Wow, I never realized how many discounts and stuff you could get with J. Crew. Makes their prices a bit more affordable! You’re so in the know Miss Cloud!

7/1/09 @ 4:25 pm (reply)

18.

Bee

Miss Cloud (message) 587 posts, Busy bee

@Miss Labrador: no no, I’m just cheep!

7/1/09 @ 4:43 pm (reply)

19.

Member

kbp81 (message) 25 posts, Newbee

I wore this dress for my sister’s wedding last September - If you have any girls who aren’t necessarily on the petite side (like me), be careful with the sash, I had a hard time getting it to stay the width I wanted it to (you might want to pin it through the dress and the first layer of the sash?) and where I wanted it to with the sitting and standing all night long! My sister let us pick our style in the Cotton cady dresses - they look fabulous all together!

7/1/09 @ 5:04 pm (reply)

20.

Member

diorable (message) 250 posts, Helper bee

It may not be true for other items, but for wedding gowns they DO allow you to order the dress to the store, try it on, and decide to purchase after. I did this

7/1/09 @ 5:08 pm (reply)

21.

Bee

Miss Star (message) 1,277 posts, Bumble bee

So cute! What a nice bride you are

7/1/09 @ 5:55 pm (reply)

22.

Member

WorstTwinEver15 (message) 758 posts, Busy bee

I have a fave J.Crew dress I want my girls to wear too!

7/1/09 @ 9:54 pm (reply)

23.

Member

olomanany (message) 42 posts, Newbee

I also used JCrew dresses and picked them out as soon as I got engaged. We almost had a major problem because my original bridal party was 4 that became 8 (long story). Anyway, they were great and looked everywhere to get me the additional dresses since they were on clearance ($100). I would post a picture but I probably will screw it up.

7/1/09 @ 10:59 pm (reply)

24.

Guest

Joy

I’m getting married March 2010, and I had my girls get their dresses last month! I don’t even have my wedding dress ordered yet, but I have 5 BM dresses hanging in my front closet! I had them get the J Crew Sangle strapless dress in Bright Alpine. I LOVE the color. Best part - 4 our of 5 of my BM didn’t want a strapless dress, so J Crew sent me an extra yard of fabric so I could add halter straps onto the dresses! Love love love J Crew!

7/2/09 @ 2:09 am (reply)

25.

Guest

Emma Lou

Not sure if everyone is aware of this, but J.Crew does have a Fall 09 preview of new styles and colors that they will be offering.

http://www.jcrew.com/AST/Navigation/WeddingFall2009.jsp

Style #8 is a beautiful, simple wedding gown, and style #16 would be so flattering on so many different women. I had pretty much set my mind on this one for my girls http://www.jcrew.com/AST/Browse/WeddingParties/Wedding_Bridesmaid/dresses/aline/PRDOVR~98999/98999.jsp in clover, but now I’m thinking I might wait for the next season styles to come out!

7/2/09 @ 5:16 am (reply)

26.

Member

Maddie (message) 4 posts, Wannabee

My bridesmaids are wearing J. Crew dresses also! We were lucky enough to find the Delores dresses in chocolate brown while they were in clearance. They were originally $195, but we only paid $55.99 per dress which was an awesome deal!

9/1/09 @ 12:55 am (reply)